The decision by Iran to pull out was made after the organizers of the book fair sent a letter to the Iran Book and Literature House, the coordinator of the country’s presence in international cultural events.

Without referring to the contents of the letter, the house called them “obvious attempts at meddling in Iran’s internal affairs”, and accused the organizers of being unable to provide security for Iran’s pavilion following their decision to remove the pavilion from the “main hall” of the fair and relocate it to a “minor hall.”

The Iran Book and Literature House also accused the Embassy of Germany in Tehran of procrastinating over issuing visas for some officials of the house.

Germany and several other countries in Europe have criticized Iran over its official policy towards the unrest that has hit the country over the past month.

This is the second time that Iran has withdrawn from the Frankfurt Book Fair, which will hold its 74th edition from October 19 to 23 in the central German city.

In 2015, Iran boycotted the Frankfurt Book Fair after the organizers announced Salman Rushdie would be the guest speaker for the fair’s opening press conference.

Rushdie is the author of “The Satanic Verses”, a blasphemous novel about Islam that was published in 1988.

The book sparked Muslims’ outrage, which culminated in a fatwa by Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, calling for Rushdie’s death.

Photo: A file photo shows an Iranian publisher talking to a visitor at Iran’s pavilion during the 2016 Frankfurt Book Fair. (Tehran Times/Mohsen Mohammadi)